Mill for manufacturing lap-weld tubing



Jan. 13, 1931.

R. F. HAUGHEY MILL FOR MANUFACTURING LAP WELD TUBING Original Filed April '22, 1925 wrmzssas Wm enmvww Patented an. 13, 1931' MILL ro'a MANUFACTURING mar-warn mu eiiie Original application filed Apri122, 1e25, SeriaI'No. 25,153. Dividedlarrdj this application filed October 2s,

' .1926. Serial No; 143,603. e c

The'invention relatesto a'method of manufacturi'ng lap-iweld tubing, this application being adiv-ision iof' my co-pending 'applica-' tion Serial N0.'25,153 filed April 22,1925,

- The object of the invention isto provide an improved method of manufacturing lapweld tubing where'by a minimum number of workmen may with the essential apparatus arryon the necessary operating steps Without --in'terferenceWitlreach other andwith or by thegappa'ratus, and with consequent increase-inefficiency and ou'tput'without impairing the quality of the product.

The essential apparatus now used in the heatingzand forming stepsyo'f them'anu'facture 0f lap-Weld tubing are a furnace, a mechanismfor charging the furnace with preformed "skelp, and apair of welding rolls between whichheated skelp is passed and wvelded,,a welding head or ball being held ontheend of=a rod in the pass -'of the welding rolls and within the skelp being welded. Preformed skelp is charged into the heating furnace bythecharging-apparatus, it is then manipulated by a skilled operator*known as a tu-rne1-'-down, and when sufliciently heated it is pushed from thei furnace into the pass or bite of the welding rolls by a skilled open atorykno'wn as aavelderwho handles the .30 skelp eithermanually or by suitable apparatus which is sometimes an adjunct to the charging apparatus. As heretofore carried outgthe method I of foi' ming'klap-weld tubing by the use of this essential apparatus has resulted' in necessary delays in-the performance of the required steps with-consequent and correspondingdiminution in output.

' According to this invention preformed skelp is charged into the-rear of a furnace by 40 suitable 'charging apparatus, it is turned downby an'op'erator who manipulates it'from c the frontofthe furnace, and'by -a Welder whooperates .froin the rear of the furnace it is pushed into welding rolls arranged in front of the furnace.

nace is provided with aplurality of, run-out 'guttersian d the furnace is constructed to receive tian'd simultaneously heat a plurality of preformedskelp. Withthis arrangement of' apparatusfandpositioningof the operators,

'The hearth of the furskelp is repea'tedl y charged into the'fu'rnace I adjacent to the run-out 5 gutters successively from' a g ivento the-other: end of the furnace. After being so charged it is repeatedly turned downi'n'to the gutters successively from said given-to", the other end of the furnace; and is repeatedlypushed out of the furnace i11to"the=weld ing rollssuccessive'ly from said given to the other end of the furnace, In performing-their several operations, the. turnendown follows the welding rollsfas they are nioved'from said given to the other endof'the furnace, and theywelder precedes the charging apparatus as it is operated to charge's'kelp into thefurnace. Y

The invention may be more fully unders'too'dby'explaining it with referenceto the accompanying drawings" of which Fig. *1 is aplan view of a Welding furnacein horizon tal section Fig. 2 a transverse Vertical section taken substantially on the line 11-11 'of Fig. 1';{and Fig;:3 -an-levational vieu showing '-t he"di'scharge end of the furnace takeirsubsta ntially in the plane indicated by thelineIII-TII ofFig.'}1;

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates generally a welding furnacefhaving the rear Wall 2, front wall 3, and the *oppositely'dis posed side walls 4 and 5. The "rear wall 2 is equipped with a-fplurality of spaced apart charging "openings 6, 7 and 8, arranged in a series-extending transversely 'offthe furnace, andalso with another setfof combined Welding and observation openings 6',"7 and-8'.

The opening 6 isTdispos'ed adjacent the charging 'openingb, as clearlyindicated in Figs. 1 andi2yan'd the remaining openings 7 and'S' correspondingly located with respect to the remaining charging openings 7 and8: The two iopenings'fi and 6' thus form a pair of coordinated openings, i the, remaining openingsformirig similar pairs, allfof which are suitably spacedffrom each other transversely of t'he furnace;

.A-s clearly ishow dnlFig. 2 'of the drawings,

the combined welding-observation openings 6, 7' and 8 are 0' considerably greater height thanthe chargingopenings 6, 7 and 8, so as to not only provideample space for the insertion: of the' toolsemployed by-the welder in handling the work, but to provide a clear vision to the opposite side of the furnace, all for a purpose which will presently appear. The lower portions of all of these openings, both the charging and the welding-observation openings terminate at the upper surface of the hearth 9 which is equipped at points opposite the welding-observation openings with run-out gutters such as indicated at 10,

11 and 12. These run-out gutters areof the usual form with curved bottoms into which the lower portions of the weld1ng-observa blanks may be placed preliminarily to their being charged, into the furnace 1. A number of tracks such as shown at 15, 15, 15 extend transversely from the table 14 along the entire width of the furnace at the rear side thereof, and upon which is adapted to travel the charging mechanism shown at 16.

A pair of tracks 17, 17 likewise extend transversely of the furnace at the front side thereof and atone of their extremities, that indicated at the upper portion of Fig. 1, project a considerable distance beyond theside wall 5. A supporting truck 18 is mounted forbodily movement upon the rails 17 17 and carries a pair of welding rolls 19 which are adapted to be driven through suitable gearing such as shown at 20 by a driving motor 21 located at one side of the truck.

. Rigidly attached to the truck 18 and extending forwardly thereof is a receiving trough 22 which is equipped with a plurality of spaced apart skid supporting members 23, 23, 23 and 23', and as illustrated in the drawings are in the form of hollow cylinders. Spaced from the receiving trough 22 is a second fixed receiving trough 24 g equipped with the laterally extending skid supporting members 25, 25, 25 and 25", the terminals of which are telescopically received by the members 23 to 23'. The members 23 to 23 together with the members 25 to 25 thus form an extensible skid interposed between the troughs 22 and 2 1.

Disposed in longitudinal alignment with the trough 24 are a, plurality of finishing rolls 26, 27 and 28 which are adapted to deliver the tubes to a trough 29 which is laterally spaced from a trough 30, the troughs 29 and 30 being suitably connected by the interposed skids indicated at 31. Spaced at a convenient distance from the trough 30 is a cooling table 33, suitable cross rolls' 32 being 'skelp.

In order to provide a limiting stop for the blanks as they are fed into the run-out gutters 10 to 12, the hearth 9 is preferably equipped with an upstanding rib located immediately adjacent each of the run-out gutters, such as indicated at 35, 35 and 35 in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

Forconvenience of description, a number of blanks have been illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and designated as 36, 36, 36". 3 7, 37, 37 and 38, 38, 38", although it will be understood that the invention may be practiced by two or more groups of blanks, and by a different number of blanks in each group.

The improved method of welding tubes as practiced with the furnace'and its associated apparatus will now be described The operator generally designated the charger initially charges the skelp or blanks into the furnace successively through the series of charging openings 6, 7 and 8, the first skelp being charged by means of the charging mechanism 16 through the charging opening 6 into the furnace, and thecharging mechanism then brought in turn opposite the charging openings 7 and 8 for this purpose. In other words, 1 the charging mechanism is moved transversely of the furnace upon its support ing rails 15, 15 and 15" after charging through opening 6 until brought opposite the charging opening Twhen another skelp or blank is charged intothe interior of the furnace through the charging opening 7, and then moved to a position to charge a skelp or blank in like fashion through the charging opening 8. The charging mechanism may carry sutlicient skelp to charge all of the openings while moving transversely of the furnace or it may return to the shelf table 14 for each charge.

At this stage, the furnace will contain blanks in the positions indicated at 36, 37 and 38 of the drawings. Each blank after remain ing'in the furnace in thisposition for a period of about one minute, is shifted from a posi tion opposite the charging openings 6 to 8, to a position intermediate the charging openings and the run-out'gutters 10 to 12, or, if a desired, directly into the run-out gutters. This shifting is accomplished by the turnerdown wlib, by means of a picker, first shifts the blank 36 to the position indicated at 36, and in like fashion successively shifts in turn the remaining blanks located opposite the charging openings from the positions indicated at 37 and 38 to those indicated at 37 and 38, respectively. Immediately after the turner-down has shifted a blank in this manner, beginning with the blank opposite the charging opening 6, the charging mechanism 16 having been brought back to a position to inject another skelp or blank through the charging opening 6, blanks are again charged into each of the charging openings in succession, following the shifting of the respective blanks previously charged into the furnace, and the blanks constituting the original charge are then shifted from their positions 36, 37 and 38 into the run-out gutters 10, 11 and 12, Fig. 2. In other words, a new blank is charged into the furnace through each of the charging openings 6 to 8 in consecutive order as soon as the previously charged blanks have been shifted from their positions opposite the charging openings following the shifting of the blanks from the positions 86, 37 and 38 to their positions 36, 37 and 38 in the run-out gutters 10,

After the blanks have been moved into the run out gutters and brought to the desired condition for welding, they are discharged from the furnace through the discharge opening 13 into the welding rolls 19 which are brought into the proper position transversely of the furnace to successively receive the tubes from the several run-out gutters. As in the case of charging the blanks into the furnace, and in their being turned down into the run-out gutters, the welder also manipulates the several tubes consecutively in regular order beginning with the tube occupying. the

position indicated at 36", then feeding in order the remaining tubes 37 and 38" into the welding rolls. During the welding of the consecutive tubes, the truck 18 is moved progressively from a position adjacent the side wall 1 to a point beyond the side wall 5, and during such movement the skids formed by the members 23100 23 and 25 to 25 provide an extensible skid the length of which is automatically adjusted to properly coordinate thefeceiving trough 22 which receives the welded tubes from the welding rolls 19 for transferring them into the receiving trough 24 from which the tubes pass to the finishing rolls 26 to 28, in an obvious fashion.

as will be clear from an inspection of Fig. 1

of the drawings.

During the travel of the truck 18 in the manner described above, from its position adjacent the side wall 4 to a pointbeyond the; side wall 5, the turner-down follows iminedi' ately behind the truck and accomplishes the turning down of the successive tubes in order in the manner set forth, then retraces his steps so that the welding rolls 19 may be brought opposite the first of the series of ruuout gutters.

The welder, located at the rear of the furnace with the charger precedes the charging mechanism 316 in its travel tnansvers'ly of the furnace. --.By'1arranging:thecharging mechanism :the rear :of v:the ifu'rnace .:and bodily movableitransversely:thereof, 'with'lthe welding :rolls .atth'e front of the furnace :and also bodily amovable in 'ithesmann'er described, and accomplishing the charging,the turning clowmand'the welding of theseveralblanks consecutively in themannerisetforth,itheaentire series; of necessary operative steps may be readily: and conveniently performed with out interference on :the part of the several workmen and with the Iresultttha'tathe welder is constantly supplied with a sufiicientcnum ber of tubes for welding to keep .him' busily employed. :Inother wordsythe welder can weldith'eseveral'tubes at the same intervals as required for the turner-down .to shift one 10f the tubes from its chargedlpositionatoiits position inrthe run-.outigutter. 1

Due 'to the fact that the charger,lthe turn- .er-down and the welder can. .belcarrying .out their respective operations rs1multaneously,-

but at different positions transversely of thefurnace, the tubes are heated and welded withoutinterference and without interrup tion of the operating sequence wherebythe production quantity is substantially "in creased. -without necessitating. a duplication in the number of ltu'rners-idown.

Although the invention has been described as practiced by-certain apparatuswhich is thesubject matter of ;a copendingapplica tion it'is to beunderstood that the method of "manufacturing.itubing as herein set forth may be carried out :by other suitable zapparatus, andisnot limitedto'lthe use iofithe V structure shown and descriibed. 2

.Iiclaim: g r Y 51. A lap-weld tube :mill icomprisingwin combination a skelp heating furnace :liavi'ng 7 aahearthnprovlded withaplurality of run out gutters successively spaced from one end ofithe Efur'naceto'the other and sideiand: end walls, :a "transversely "movable charging :apparatus arranged: adjacent "the reariside and a: transversely :movable welding apparatus arranged adjacent: ithel'front :side I of the ifurnace, 'th elside wall adjacent saidzcharging apparatus being provided with a plurality of spaced charging and push out openings each of said charging openings being adjacent a pushout' opening and on the same side of the furnace therefrom ,and arranged in associatedrelation with said run out gutters and the'side adjacent said welding aplparatus with an elongated discharge opening disposed in alinement' with all of said charging and push out openings, said charging apparatus belng adapted for feed ng-skelp successively into said'spaced charging openings and to'permit aiwelder to move freely in front thereof and successively push skelp by way of said push out openings from said run out gutters into said welding apparatus, and

said welding apparatus beingadapted to move across the front of the furnace to receive skelp successively from the foremost to the last run out gutter and to permit a turner down to follow thereafter and freely manipulate the skelp being heated in the furnace from one end of the furnace to the other in successive and continuous steps Without interference from the welding apparatus. 2. A lap-weld tube mill comprising in combination a skelp heating furnace having a hearth provided with a plurality of run out gutters successively spaced from one end ofthe furnace to the other and side and end walls, a transversely movable charging apparatus arranged adjacent the rear side and a transversely movable welding apparatus arranged adjacent the front side of the furnace, the side Wall adjacent said charging 2o apparatus being provided with a plurality of spaced charging and push out openings arranged in associated relation with said run out gutters and the side adjacent said welding apparatus with an elongated dis-V charge opening disposed in alinement'with all of said chargingand push out openings, said charging apparatus being adapted to move from a point beyond the first push out opening into alinement with the last charging opening to permit feeding of skelp successively into said charging openings from one end of the furnace to the other and to also permit a welder to move freely in front thereof and without interference therewith in such a manner as to permithim to move skelp by way of said push out openings from successive gutters into said welding apparatus Without interferencefrom said charging apparatus and said welding apparatus being 0 adapted to move across the front of the furnace to receive skelp successively from the foremost to the last run out gutter and also sufiiciently therebeyond to permit a turner down to follow thereafter and freely manipulate the skelp being heated in the furnace from one end of the furnace to the other in successive and continuous steps without interference from the welding apparatus.

In testimony whereof I sign my name. 7 r RODGER F. 'HAUGHEY. 

